Always
by EmeraldMoonStar
Summary: Sakura wants to prove to Sasuke that her love is the real deal and not a simple crush. Now she gets her chance. ONESHOT Rated T because I'm paranoid.


**Another 'what if' sort of thing.(I honestly think that too much) anywho, this is my first attempt at this kind of mood, so it's not great. Those of you reading Something's Missing(changed title to Things Change), I just have to type up the next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: -.- Does this face look happy? No. So I don't own Naruto.**

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This Chuunin exam was not going as planned. The Forest of Death had, unfortunately, lived up to its name this time. In far too many places the ground and trees were stained blood red. Dead bodies were a much too frequent occurrence for the passing ninja. Team 7 weren't having great luck either. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were in the trees fighting off enemy ninja, until Orochimaru arrived. He had knocked out Naruto and made Sasuke and Sakura see their own deaths again, stopping them from running away. He had been talking to them about things that didn't make much sense until Sakura cut him off.

"What the hell are you talking about!? We never want to see your face again!" Haruno Sakura yelled. Who was this ninja? He had just burned their scroll, which made no sense. Why didn't he keep it? He needed it to complete the exam. With these thoughts whirling through her head, Sakura fought against the jutsu he put on her. Seeing her own and Sasuke's death had made her too frightened to move. The only movement she managed so far was trembling. She had to move!

Sasuke wasn't moving either because Orochimaru learns from his mistakes. Last time, Sasuke managed to stab himself in the thigh to get rid of the fear. This time, Orochimaru made him see Itachi murder him, so all Sasuke had done so far was vomit.

Orochimaru chuckled. "It won't go that way." Then he put his hands into a seal that Sakura didn't recognize. It looked strange and sinister. It looked similar to the tiger seal, except that the middle fingers wrapped around the index fingers and she assumed that they met behind them. Orochimaru's neck started to stretch beyond human ability, like the snake that he is.

She wasn't even thinking when she'd done it. She just acted on instinct and that was to protect the man she loved. That was all she had ever wanted. To do something that Sasuke would appreciate and wouldn't think was an annoying gesture of infatuation. But it wasn't infatuation. It was love. It couldn't be anything less. It was that instinct, protecting a loved one that had made her do it, whether he loved her back or not. That was why when she saw Orochimaru extend his neck and as he was nearing Sasuke with his sharp teeth ready to give him that seal that would destroy so many bonds, she had jumped in front of Sasuke at the last second, as he had done for her on their first C-rank mission to the Wave Country.

Sakura screamed in pain as she felt teeth sinking into her neck. It was a horrible poison-like pain that seemed to go on forever. After an eternity, she felt those horribly snakelike fangs dislodge themselves from her neck. She expected to feel relief because the teeth were gone. But she didn't. She felt even more intense, unbearable pain near the bite site. Unknown to her, the heaven seal had made its swirling appearance on her neck. She screamed more and grabbed her neck.

Orochimaru realized that he had bitten the wrong victim and he wasn't happy. He was absolutely livid, but there was little he could do. That jutsu took a lot of chakra and he needed to rest, so he sunk through the tree branch without another word, but thinking of some very painful deaths that Sakura should go through for protecting _his_ container from the bite.

The pain was boring into Sakura even worse now and felt like thousands of white hot kunai stabbing her repeatedly in the neck. Dimly, she saw Sasuke rush over to her. She staggered and started to fall, but he caught her and had her lay across his lap. He just looked at her, fighting hard to keep the emotions that were burning inside him concealed. He finally spoke, his voice sounded concerned, but annoyed.

"You're annoying you know that?" he yelled. "Why couldn't you stay out of the way for once in your life!?" He didn't care that he was yelling, no one could hear him. Naruto was unconscious and Orochimaru sunk through the ground a few seconds ago.

A small, sad smile formed on Sakura's lips. "Nothing I give you is ever enough, is it?" She whispered, barely audible. Her emerald eyes were glistening with unshed tears, but they were clouding over. "All I ever do is annoy you, so perhaps it will be better this way."

Sasuke just shook his head. He looked up at the darkening sky as though to ask 'why?'. "Why are you saying this?" he asked quietly. Sasuke felt a very strange feeling in his chest, a feeling that felt like shattering. He couldn't bear to see Sakura like this. She coughed and some blood trickled out of her mouth. Sasuke felt a lump form in his throat. Tears were threatening to fall, but he held them back. "Why?" he asked again, more urgently.

Sakura just looked at him, her eyes unfocused and vision fading. "All I ever wanted was for you to be happy." She told him. "It's clear that you aren't happy when you are with me. I hope you're happy when I am gone."

"Gone? You aren't going anywhere!" he shouted. The way she was talking scared him. He wanted to run away from her and leave her there and escape from all this emotion. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stroked her cheek and ran his fingers through her petal pink hair, now blood red from fighting, but most of it was her own blood. "Don't leave me." He whispered. She couldn't leave him. She wouldn't. Kami wouldn't dare take his cherry blossom away from him. Yes _his_. He wasn't sure when he started calling her that, but his heart told him it was okay to let her in through the walls protecting it. She meant too much to him to be taken away so cruelly and so suddenly.

"Is that what you honestly want?" she asked faintly.

"More than you could ever know." He replied quietly.

Sakura's breathing grew more ragged and looked as though she was having trouble breathing. She winced in pain and took a deep breath. "Then I will always be with you." She assured him. She reached up to touch his heart weakly with her hand. "In here."

With that, she closed her eyes and left the world of the living. Sasuke just held her body to his chest tightly, while trying not to cry, or yell. A strong wind blew through the trees, ruffling Sasuke's hair. He instintively clutched Sakura's body even tighter. The wind carried a gentle voice that carried out Sasuke's final request to Sakura.

"Always."

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**Hope that wasn't too horrible! Since I have a computer virus, I suddenly have tons of time to type of fanfics, so more are on the way. Review please!**


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